Boston 09 The Results

How exciting!! After the wheel chair and athletes with disabilities started the Boston Marathon on Monday the Elite women spilled into the starting corral. Amongst them was our own Jutta Merilainen, wearing bib number F31. Watching online or on TV there were numerous opportunities to see her running back and forth, warming up. Starting two rows back Jutta stayed tucked in the middle of the 40 deep pack of women who were capable of running as fast as 2:23. With a qualifying time and PR of 2:47:37 run at the PEC Marathon in October 2008, Jutta knew as some point she would lose contact, it would just be a matter of when. Running into a stiff headwind with temperatures hovering around nine degrees most of the women were dressed in shorts, tanks and arm warmers and ran close together, taking advantage of the draft. Jutta hung on even as others fell off the back consistently until between mile two and three (3.5-5k). This left her to run most of the way with few others but the Elite men as they moved their way through the field. Ultimately Jutta finished 20th Elite woman overall in a time of 2:49:51, 17 minutes behind the winner.
Out of the ?Ones to Watch,? Americans Kara Goucher and Ryan Hall both took third place overall, ?Boston Billy? after running over 125,000 miles in his running career finished in 4:06:49, and legally blind runner Kurt Fiene finished in 2:43:44 beating out peer Adrian Broca who crossed in 2:56:55. In a bizarre twist both of last year?s winners Robert Cheruiyot and Dire Tune ended up being taken to the hospital; Cheruiyot before the finish with back spasms and Tune after finishing second by one second (the closest finish in Boston history) with dehydration.
Our local runners all crossed the finish line, some reaching their time goals-some not, but all experiencing the rush of running from Hopkinton to Boston on spectator lined streets, being pushed along by the cheers, admiration and respect of the crowd. Janet Adams 3:26:33, Chris Berneche 3:23:54, Rosanne Duke 3:59:08, Patrick Foran 3:05:26, Boyd Kalnay 2:54:03, Craig Parry 3:36:34, Andrew Speedy 3:53:54, Sharon Voteary 3:53:04, Jeff Walsh 3:19:17, Stephanie Warren 4:08:58, Wayne Snowdon 3:50:35, Allan Faulds 2:45:45, Scott Faulds 3:05:44, and Tom Fleming 3:57:42.
If you are chasing the Boston prize there are a few things you need to know. There is a 59 second window added to your qualifying standard to allow for timing errors, if you qualify after the end of September you have two years to use your qualification and if you run your qualifying time at Boston you are automatically in for the next year, requalification not required. Regardless of your completion time, Bostonians treat all runners with awe; stopping finishers in the street to congratulate their efforts and to discuss their race. This admiration comes from knowing the work it took to land runners at the start line and ultimately their journey with and through history to the finish. Congratulations to all!